March 03, 2015

Wow -- a lot has been going on behind the scenes of late. Not only are the Victoria Square books coming out in audio, they are now available in e format for the UK, AU, NL, and Ireland.

Also brand new is my latest audiobook from my Jeff Resnick Mystery series, DARK WATERS, which is narrated by Steven Barnett.

For Jeff Resnick, the trouble starts with a near-death experience. Brenda's family comes to visit and one of them reminds Jeff of the thugs who mugged him. His brother has taken possession of an expensive boat. The yacht holds a deadly secret, one destined to turn his world upside down. Will Jeff solve the puzzle before his vision of near death becomes a reality?

February 22, 2015

February 05, 2015

As I think I mentioned last week ... the Victoria Square Mysteries are coming to audio. It's been a long time coming, but a little judicious nagging certainly didn't hurt.

Yesterday, my editor sent me the cover for the first one, A Crafty Killing. (It'll all be available on February 24th.) To be fair, it was gorgeous. There was just one honking big error. The cat. It was a ginger cat. A very handsome ginger cat, but it wasn't Mason, the cat in the story. Mason is a tabby!

Well, I let my editor know I was and wasn't happy. It's not his fault, after all, that Marketing ALWAYS gets it wrong! The new art director was probably just taking a cue from the original cover. (Which wrongly has a ginger cat on it.)

When I didn't hear back from him during the next hour, I wondered if he might start to think I'm some kind of diva. And this audio book is coming out from Tantor Media (a company that my publisher licensed the audio rights to). I don't know how he did it, but my wonderful editor asked them to change the cover--and they did!!!! Color me shocked, but extremely happy.

I think you have to agree, this cover is PURRfect. I like the fact that Mason is glancing over his shoulder with a wary expression--looking for bad guys

I'm liking Tantor Media! Not only do they produce nice covers, but they actually offer the audiobooks as downloads AND on CD. I have not heard a sample of the book, but I have heard samples of the narrator reading other cozy mysteries, so I think she'll be a good fit.

You can order the audio edition of A Crafty Killing. Just click here. (It's also available from Amazon and will soon be available from iTunes and Audible.)

The book and ebook are still available, too, and there'll be more on the horizon, too.

I'll let you know when The Walled Flower and One Hot Murder are available during the next couple of months.

February 03, 2015

I love the first Tuesday of the month -- that means new releases from many of my friends and favorite authors. Today is no different. Of course, first up is ... me .. then two of my Cozy Chicks blog sisters, Kate Collins and Duffy Brown.

CRYBABY featuring Jeff Resnick

Jeff Resnick—babysitter? It wasn’t a reference that had ever graced his personal résumé, but when he’s entrusted to care for his brother’s most prized possession—his infant daughter—Jeff is tested in ways he could never have anticipated. With his girlfriend Maggie unavailable, Jeff has only one person he can turn to for advice when his tiny niece falls ill on his watch.

Now that they’ve tied the knot, flower shop owner Abby Knight and her husband, Marco, want to put down roots. When it comes to picking a house, Marco can’t wait to get his hands dirty, while Abby isn’t ready for a fixer-upper. But conflict really sprouts when they’re checking out a dilapidated Victorian and watch a construction worker take a life-threatening tumble. Since witnesses claim the man shouted for help, suggesting that the fall was no accident, the victim’s flamboyant wife hires Marco to find the person responsible. Meanwhile, Abby keeps secret from Marco her own investigation into the home’s inhabitants, a family whose off-kilter behavior has aroused her suspicions. If only Abby’s very pregnant cousin, Jillian, will stop distracting Abby with false labor pains, she can conclude her own inquiries before Marco finds out…and her case blossoms into a disaster.

As a mortician beautician and housekeeper, Mercedes is no stranger to corpses or messy bathrooms. But the last thing she expects to find in a client’s bathtub is a dead body! Now she’s a murder suspect and it seems like her life is going down the drain. She turns to local lawyer Walker Boone to get her out of hot water. But Walker has his own surprising connections to the dead man in the tub, and now he needs Reagan’s help to clear his own name—and keep him alive…

January 27, 2015

January 26, 2015

Ever since I returned from the Ninc conference in late October, I've been hustling my butt working on a number of projects, some of which are now live and some that are still in the works. (I'll talk about that more in a week or so.)

LIVE -- FROM NEW YORK (okay, Rochester NY) IT'S ....

Cheated By Death in audio!(Jeff Resnick Mystery #4)

I've got a fabulous new narrator, Steven Barnett, and I'm hoping that we can re-record the earlier books in the series so that Steven will be the voice of Jeff Resnick.

And out as paperbacks ...

Evolution: Jeff Resnick's Backstory

There's something about this book that haunts me. I think I've read it six times in the last month. I keep going back to it, and I don't usually go back and read my own stuff. (Although I do like to listen to it on audio in the car.) Maybe it's the whole "coming of age" aspect of the stories.

Not only is the book now available as a trade paperback, it'll soon be available in audio, too. (Again, performed by Steven Barnett.) I'll let you know when that happens. So far I've confined distribution to just Amazon because the paperbacks don't sell as well as the ebooks and there are costs associated with distribution (like being forced to not only give hefty discounts, but pay for returns--OUCH!).

I don't know why this book doesn't seem to resonate with readers. It sure resonates with me. Why? I'm not sure. I just know it, and the second book in the series, JOURNEY, were a heck of a lot of fun to write. I really enjoyed the experience and I thought my readers might be willing to leave their comfort zones to give my character Amanda Shelton a try. But I live in hope. The sales for Evolution have picked up since the paperback edition came out. I'm hoping Amanda will have the same kind of luck.

If the sales pick up, not only will I squeeze the next book into my writing schedule, but I'll release the series as audiobooks, too.

January 19, 2015

Mr. L has been teasing me for weeks, telling me that I pat myself on the back because I enjoy listening to my own stories as audiobooks.

In particular, I've been listening to the latest Jeff Resnick Mystery which is now available on audio, BOUND BY SUGGESTION. I've had it since before Christmas and have listened to the complete story at least four times. I've listened to the last 5-6 chapters at least 8 or 9 times.

Why?

Because it turns out I wrote a pretty exciting book.

Not all audiobooks are good. You have to find the right voice. Example: The narrator for the first audio edition of Murder on the Mind was ALL WRONG for Jeff, and even worse for Richard. (I never did make it past the first CD because I kept cringing.)

I found the right voice in an audio producer named Steven Barnett (who has also performed Cheated By Death). Steven makes the story leap out of the speakers! The voices of the characters are pretty much perfect, especially Jeff, Richard, and Brenda. (Yeah, he even does good women's voices!)

I am just so proud of the book, and especially this audio edition. I hope my readers/listeners will be, too.

January 15, 2015

Some people give themselves expensive Christmas gifts. Some just trinkets. I think most people don't even give themselves a gift. When I give myself a Christmas gift, it's usually time off to write something I really want to write.

This year I gave myself the time to write a short story featuring my favorite character, Jeff Resnick.

Jeff Resnick—babysitter? It wasn’t a reference that had ever graced his personal résumé, but when he’s entrusted to care for his brother’s most prized possession—his infant daughter—Jeff is tested in ways he could never have anticipated. With his girlfriend Maggie unavailable, Jeff has only one person he can turn to for advice when his tiny niece falls ill on his watch.

January 06, 2015

I'm absolutely thrilled because today is the first Tuesday of the month and my new cozy mystery, With Baited Breath, is now available.

The first review is in from Feathered Quill Book Reviews. It says in part: "A fabulous start in Lorraine Bartlett’s new series. The author seemed to know exactly how to draw me hook, line and sinker into the tale. There was quite a bit of humor, especially with Gramps on the scene. The scene has been set and I’m certainly looking forward to reading all about Lotus Bay and some of their not-so-quaint and very quirky residents.

Quill says: Lorraine Bartlett has just taken the word 'cozy' to a new level when she landed her readership on the shores of Lotus Bay!"